Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-07-05
70 ZAPHNATH'S CORNER.
The First Spectator OF Whom There
is ANY Recerd-Srange Crazes
Sincs His Time.
= Review Of Some of the Speculative
ManSEs OF tho World John aw and
His Bubbles Called to Mind.
Chicago Tribune.

or retsrd the course Of business. Seems
these, he makes his plans TO profit b
them-to buy or sell those commodltic.
which viii be affected BY the cymins
changes, He truly speculates-tEat i
sees or has an occular view Of things K
come Or that sTe about TO happen, aui
sI-auEes his own affairs accordingly
The first Spectator Of whom there j,
any record WSs Joseph, the chief viZier oil
Plaroh, King Of Egypt. During the
seven years OF plenty he laid up & CREST
store CT corn, snd his elevators and ware
houses We're iuII and running over. Then
whom the seven years Of famine came he
hsd the market "CCrnered," and all the
/. Egyptians aud ell the people Of the cOur-
/ tries round Gbyu. came TO him TO buy.
/ Such was the first recorded Spectator
and sp CulRtiop, and from the days Of
I jos ph IsphBath OF Egypt, to the days CT
Joseph Wiltshire Of Cincinnati, there have
( been men who, with more or less success,
/ have tried 10 get a "cOrner" on stocks
( slG bonds, on tulips and mulberry trees,
on lsrd, pork and wheat, and on almost
every form CT merchandise. joseph
LaphnGth and the men who backed him,
VINO put up tbeII money On his Judgment,
TsU their corner successfully and msde
much money gGd TeDuce Joseph Wiltshire
anG his friends dropped their bundleOn the
Chicago board Of trade. The distinction IS
ina, one Of ;hesc operators for rise was
rue Specul2tCr who iOresaw what the
coming halvests would be; the other only
G2mJled with chance, and thought the
power Of money cou!j change the course
IF Providence. There Is Gs much disSim-
l.ac!ty between q 50, culator and man
VINO speCulstes IS there is between race
horse and q donkey. Il is the donkey
That bears eli the burdens. The great
donkey public only know that they want
10 win money. They Know nothing of
he principles f speculation: they are
clated or panic stricken by turns-1uy at
the highest price snd sell g, the lowest,
and thus e2sIly become the prey or the
tools Of the CgCl and wary Spectator.
InnImeTGbie rs has been the sDeCula-
tons Which have carried away Tor time
wnOlc communities, there are 6 few that
Stand pTe-cmiaCut TOR the folly and mania
watch characterize thCm. One of the
ccIlIest as well Is one OF the stTaDgest
Of these was the speculative crsZe ia tu-
lips which broke ont in Holland in the
beginning Il the seventeenth century.
The tUip was first brought into Europe
from Turkey in 1868, and it speedily be-
came d f-ycrite flower in Germany and
Holland. Especially did its a.istCcratic
and stately beauty recommend itself TO
the wealthy but democratic burghers Of
Amsterdam, an0 q large trade in tulips
was COmmel cGd between tlat city and
COnstantinCpIe. as years passed al UCl-
land became aroused on the subject Of
tulips, and N the year 1854 the rage for
them became 80 great that the ordinary
industry OF the country was neglected
ard the whole people turned to the
production Of tulips. Ii Was the royal
road TO wealth. People began to grow
rich trading in them, and regular marts
for their sale were opened on the Stock
Exchange of Amsterdam and st the t&v-
ems in other cities. 50 extensive did the
operations become that code Of laws
wss drawn up regulating the traffic.
NOtsries and clerks were appointed, who
devoted themselves exclusively TO the
tulip trade. The system of time sales
was introduced, and thousands Of tulips
were brought and sold, Ike stocks and
bonds, for future delivery. During the
time Of wild speculation many persons
grew suddenly itch. MOBILES, citizens,
farmers, mechanics, fCOtmen, and Chin
ney-sweeps dabbled in tulips Houses
and lAGG and all other KINDS e property
were sold 81 ruInOus rates that money
might ce got to invest in bulbs. The
sturdy sGd phlegmatIC DutChmau began to
tn nix that Holland would be the tulip msr
ket of the world, and that the riches IF
he world would be poured ID 2 golden
shower or the shores q the Zugdtr-L Z.
5 be mania Increased prices increased
with 1t, end as much rs $40, 600 was given
for forty tulips. The 5nibS we're sold by
weight. \ tulip Of tn kind known IS the
Admiral S.etkin, weighiu. 400 grains,
would sa.I for $500: the Admiral vUu der
Eycke, Weighing 40 grains, wss worth
500: FiCerOy Of 400 grains would bring
ST. 0. Most precious Of all, Sempgr
Augustus, weighing only 200 grains, was
thought TO be cheap a. 5000. This LAST
was very rare and consequently g great
favorite. One msn sold three roots of il
for $1,000. collection of tulips be-
longing to 3 deceased buTgOmsster was
sold by his executor for $40, 900, but they
sold 2 root Of the SemDer Augustus sep
sEately for $1,000.
1T is Wei known that tulip bulbs closely
resemble an onion, and some amusing an
'ecdotes sre told of their being mistaken
for such during the great speculative ex-
element. a travelling Englishmsn, who
was also an amateur botanist, saw III the
conservatory Of q wealthy Dutchman
what he supposed to be an onion, and
quietly took out his penkDife and 5egan
TO peel of lis coat TO discover its species. |
He then cut it in TWO TO inspect the heart. !
Just st this moment the owner OF the |
conservatory happened in and saw his |
precious root cut in two. Rushing at /
the Enslishmsn ne shouted out, "Do you |
know what you about?" "Certainly, l |
am peeling an opior-a most extTeordi- !
nary onion, too"
"ENtraornary. said the Dutchman. |
~ should think it was. Why, sir, it is
an Admiral Won der Eycke."
SIS it?" said the Englishman, taking |
out his note book to record the fact, |
land are there many onions of this kind |
IL your country"
The Dutchman in a speechless and
towering rage had the Englishman
arrested for cutting up one tulip valued |
at $1,000, snd the magistrate fRed him
that sum, aud imprisoned him till the fine
was paid.
One morning a sailor brought word 20 |
q merchant that his ship had arrived, and |
the merchant usva him nice red ha-r;rc,